SANTAQUIN, Utah — Santaquin residents packed an open house Thursday night to press city leaders and developers on the approved Summit Ridge Data Center, raising fresh concerns over emissions, air quality, and the impact on the growing community.
It’s planned to go in on the southern end of town, and while it’s already been approved, some residents have recently caught wind of it and raised concerns over the project.
Santaquin Mayor Dan Olson says he’s glad the public is taking an interest. He says this packed house comes on the heels of several public discussions they’ve had in the city council about the proposal. It was approved back in 2024.
“For posted meetings, we had between nine and 11 [about the data center] - nobody attended,” said Mayor Olson.
When the Utah-based company DCPC first approached, the mayor had his own hesitations and rejected the idea. “Power coming off the grid is not enough to support a data center, so they went away,”
Watch: Utah data centers will be forced to report water usage under fast-tracked bill
But these local developers came back with a solution.
“I’m a Utah County native - I stand behind this project 100 percent,” said Robert Sumsion, DCPC’s VP of business development. “This is my backyard, too. We’re doing everything we can to be as transparent as possible.”
The company presented the new plan to the public on Thursday, which focused on lower emissions, water needs, and more. “Extremely low water usage, and they’re generating their own power, so there won’t be any blackouts to the city,” Mayor Olson said, also noting the dozens of jobs it will bring.
The ‘Summit Ridge Data Center’ will be just off the freeway near exit 242, near a newer housing development that holds some residents who aren’t quite satisfied with all the company’s answers. “Even on a natural gas generator, there’s still going to be emissions that cause issues - emissions that are not healthy,” said Ben Thornell.
Thornell says he moved here recently - specifically to escape those worries. “We wanted to be away from the big city stuff - inversion, smog, and things,” Thornell added.
Mayor Olson says he planned this forum back in October, an effort to balance concerns against the changes and what’s best for his burgeoning city.
“I’ve seen it grow from 900 people to now nearly 21,000,” said Mayor Olson.
Annissa Burcham says she’s seen the city’s due diligence in its paperwork - she pulled all the public records related to the project ahead of the meeting. But she hopes that will continue, echoing Thornell’s air quality concerns and saying she would like to see public monitoring as the project goes ahead.
“I want to make sure that there’s third-party people that are confirming the information, and keeping the info and the metrics updated,” said Burcham.
While the project has long been approved, Sumsion tells FOX 13 News there’s still no groundbreaking date as of yet. Project officials say there’s more discussion and planning with the city to be done before moving further forward.
